IdaTech Sells Fuel Cell System to French Utility

BEND, Oregon May 2, 2001 -- IdaTech, a subsidiary of IDACORP (NYSE: IDA) today announced the delivery and successful testing of a 3 kilowatt fuel cell system to the Research and Development Division of Electricité de France (EDF). EDF supplies electricity to 31 million customers in France, and, with annual revenues of $30 billion, is considered one of the world's leading energy holding companies. "Fuel cells are a promising new source of heat and electricity that can be a good complementary solution to traditional large-scale power generating plants in France, especially for isolated sites. Small-scale sized for a home, fuel cells appear to be efficient and low-cost when produced in large volumes. They are also environmentally friendly as they do not produce nitrogen or sulfur oxides," said Alain Pinget, group manager for EDF, in charge of field-testing. "EDF will be field testing the prototype unit this spring. Our patented design is targeted for a residential application in France but is applicable to any location in the world where fuel is available," said Alan Guggenheim, president of IdaTech. "We are proud that EDF chose IdaTech for this project. We foresee a valuable relationship with this cutting edge utility as we lay the groundwork for commercialization of portable systems in late 2002 and residential applications in 2003," Guggenheim said. IdaTech's fuel cell system uses a chemical process to produce electricity from a mixture of methanol and water. The system, delivered to EDF in April 2001, is similar to experimental units that IdaTech is currently testing with the Bonneville Power Administration in the Pacific Northwest, and the units that the company demonstrated in Canada, Japan and Denmark, in fall 2000. The system -- packaged in a ribbed metal enclosure with plastic wraparound panels - is designed to supply enough electricity, as well as clean, useable heat, to power a typical single-family home. While the fuel for the first EDF unit is methanol, future models are being designed to generate electricity from natural gas, propane, kerosene, diesel, and other conventional fuels, for both stationary and portable applications. IdaTech is a world leader in the development of compact, low-cost fuel cell power generation systems and components. IdaTech is majority owned by IDACORP Technologies, the clean-energy subsidiary of Boise-based IDACORP (NYSE: IDA).